Test your knowledge on this classical music quiz with answers. The questions are divided into five different rounds for ten questions each. Have fun!
Classical Music Quiz Questions: Round 1
1. Who was Britten’s Simple Symphony written for?
2. Which Gilbert and Sullivan opera has the subtitle “Flowers of Progress”?
3. Who wrote the tone poem “Tintagel”?
4. Which work provided Anthony Minghella with his operatic directorial debut?
5. Which American folk hero is the title of a ballet by Aaron Copland?
6. What is Debussy’s dreamlike music often called?
7. What type of work is Elgar’s “Dream of Gerontius”?
8. Which honorary degree was Haydn receiving when his Oxford Symphony was first performed?
9. Which modern English composer wrote the opera “Punch and Judy”?
10. Which two Russian revolutions does Shostakovich commemorate in his 11th and 12th symphonies?
Round 2
11. What is the “joke” which gives Haydn’s String Quartet in E flat its name?
12. Which Soviet republic did Khachaturian come from?
13. For which musical instrument were Liszt’s “Liebesträume” written?
14. How many major symphonies did Mahler write?
15. What was Mussorgsky’s first name?
16. Including interval time, how long does a performance of Richard Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung” last?
17. Which rival of Mozart has been accused, falsely, of poisoning him?
18. Who wrote “The Snow Maiden” and “The Golden Cockerel”?
19. What is the “Miracle” that gave Haydn’s Symphony No 96 its name?
20. What were Johann Stamit’z “Mannheim rockets”?
Round 3
21. During which part of Handel’s “Messiah” does the audience stand?
22. “Morning” comes from which piece of music by Grieg?
23. Which music by Wagner was used as the theme for Apocalypse Now?
24. What was the nationality of Bela Bartok who died at the end of World War II?
25. Rachmaninov wrote a “Rhapsody” on whose theme?
26. What type of work is Pelleas and Melisande by Debussy?
27. Which religious song about Jerusalem begins “Last night I lay a sleeping”?
28. Dvorak’s famous Symphony No 9 is called what?
29. Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Cave” is from which Overture?
30. About which romantic pair did Berlioz write a symphony?
Classical Music Quiz: Round 4
31. “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes” comes from which Gilbert & Sullivan opera?
32. Which birthplace of Handel shares its name with a Manchester-based orchestra?
33. Rodrigo’s Concerto d’Aranjuez is played on which psalm?
34. Chopin wrote music almost exclusively for which musical instrument?
35. The music “Crimond” is usually sung to whish psalm?
36. What range of voice did Kathleen Ferrier have?
37. Which Gilbert & Sullivan opera is set in the Tower of London?
38. Which of Beethoven’s Symphonies is the “Choral Symphony”?
39. “One Fine Day” comes from which Puccini opera?
40. Which words were put to Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 in D Major?
Round 5
41. What type of work by Beethoven has the title “Moonlight”?
42. “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is from which Tchaikovsky ballet?
43. Which Handel composition about anointing Solomon King is sung at English coronations?
44. “Nimrod” is from which Elgar composition?
45. In which English county was Sir Harrison Birtwistle born?
46. Where was Rossini’s famous “Barber” from?
47. Which aria can be translated as “None Shall Sleep”?
48. What type of voice normally sings “O for the Wings of a Dove”?
49. How is Bizet’s Les Pecheurs de Perles also known?
50. What goes with “Peasant” in the Overture by Suppe?
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